Mobile Narratives for Combating Battlefield Stress: Rationale, Preliminary Research and Protocol

Battlefield stress is the consequence of man being exposed to the hostile environment of combat. Combat stress is specifically caused by man's fear of the dangers of combat, and is fueled and tempered by other variables such as morale, cohesion, fatigue, confidence, training and intensity of the combat. Treatment is often as simple as giving soldiers time to rest for a few hours or days, to get a shower and some sleep, and to talk about the feelings they have in the presence of a counselor. Only in rare cases do soldiers undergo more serious psychological treatment. One of the best strategies for dealing with stress is learning how to relax. However, relaxing is difficult to achieve in the battlefield. In this paper we suggest the use of mobile multimedia technology–PDA/cellular phones–for providing advanced coping techniques suitable to the battlefield context. Specifically, we developed a protocol based on mobile narratives, to be experienced on mobile multimedia technology: 3G cellular phones, IPODs or PDAs. Mobile narratives are audio-visual experiences, implemented on mobile devices, in which the narrative component is a critical aspect to induce a feeling of presence and engagement. Through the link between the feeling of presence and emotional state, mobile narratives may be used to improve mood state in their users. The rationale of the approach, a preliminary test of the proposed method, and a protocol for its use on the battlefield are presented and discussed.